A man walks next to carcasses of cows on Gatos Mortos beach after a livestock carrier, loaded with some 5,000 cows, capsized at the Vila do Conde port in Bacarena, Para state, Brazil, October 13, 2015. The intense smell of thousands of cow carcasses washed up on the shore has brought a coastal town in the north of Brazil to a standstill, following a shipwreck one week ago. A Lebanese ship carrying some 5,000 cows and some 750 tonnes of oil, sunk by the Vila do Conde port in the town of Barcarena in Para state on October 6. A couple of dozen cows were captured along the coastline, but the majority of the hold was left to decompose on the shore, with no sanitary controls in place. REUTERS/Tarso Sarraf
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Brazil stinks over capsized livestock carrier

October 19, 2015
Ships & Ports

A man walks next to carcasses of cows on Gatos Mortos beach after a livestock carrier, loaded with some 5,000 cows, capsized at the Vila do Conde port

 

A port town in northern Brazil has been brought to a near standstill more than a week after a livestock carrier loaded with thousands of cattle capsized and sank at the port, killing majority of the animals.

The accident occurred October 6 when the Lebanese-flagged livestock carrier Haidar, which had just loaded some 5,000 cows bound for Venezuela, overturned as it departed the Port of Vila do Conde in Barcarena, Pará state, Brazil.

Some of the animals managed to escape the holds of the ship by scrambling onto the overturned hull, but the vast majority of the animals perished in the accident.

Now, more than a week later, the rotting carcasses of the thousands of cattle have been left to decompose on local beaches, posing a major health risk to residents.

Local officials are now calling for a complete halt to activities at the port until a cleanup solution is reached.

The cattle were owned by international beef producer Minerva SA, who has said that the contracted shipping company, which it has not named, is responsible for the cargo.

The 6,449 DWT MV Haider is one of six livestock carriers owned by Tamara Shipping, based in Lebanon. The ship was built in 1994.

No humans were injured in the initial capsizing



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